Unwitting Advice
by TeddyRemusPotter
Summary: Sirius gets some advice from a kind old muggle man one night, something that might help him go through the years - something he really should have remembered on 31st October 1981.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything that you might recognise.

**Written For:**

**The Great Maze Chall/Comp: **When the opportunity [presents] itself to spy on some lovebirds, you take it. Leaving the couple, you take a seat beside a kind old man and he tells you a story which ends, "People should always look before they leap." I didn't hear it. What did he say?

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><p>It was getting dark, Sirius mused, glancing at the sky. They were visiting Lily at her house, like they had many times this summer. Sirius often wondered why he came along since the two lovebirds cuddled up together, perfectly ignoring him.<p>

_I need a girlfriend_, he thought, looking over at Lily and James sitting on the park bench across from him.

There was Marlene, of course. It had been a few weeks since he'd seen her, their relationship still a little rocky, but he was sure they could sort things out, if only for a short while. Sirius leaned forward on his hand, resting the elbow against his knee. It was only a few minutes later he felt someone come up behind him.

On instinct Sirius tensed, knowing that this was the muggle world and therefore unlikely to be attacked by Death Eaters. The threat was still present in his while through, so he waited.

"Mind if I sit here, lad?" Sirius turned his head to the side, blinking in surprise at the elderly man standing there. Raising an eyebrow, he scanned the man subtly. He didn't look like a threat, but still. In fact, he looked the exact opposite of a threat.

"Sure." He replied, scooting further up the bench to make space.

They sat in awkward silence for a minute or so, until the white-haired man cleared his throat, gesturing to Lily and James snuggled up giggling together on the bench. Sirius, noted with some humor, they didn't even notice that someone had come into the otherwise empty muggle park.

"They friends of yours?" he asked, glancing at Sirius from the corner of his eyes.

"Yes, sir."

The man hummed, still watching the two seventeen year old's. "They look happy together."

Sirius chuckled slightly, shaking his head. 'Happy' was an understatement, especially with James. His best friend was absolutely thrilled when Lily had agreed to date him, it had been a few months now and the boy still looked at Lily as if she held the world in her palm.

He'd noticed that Lily had started to look at James in a similar fashion, both falling in love.

"They are." He answered the man, unsure if he'd ask anymore questions.

Sirius was sure it wasn't normal for some old muggle man to walk up and start questioning teenagers. He hadn't said or done anything that would suggest it was more than slight curiosity through.

"I don't think I introduced myself, lad." The man said, turning towards him fully, a smile upon his wrinkled face. "I'm John."

Sirius nodded, returning the smile. "Sirius."

"Sirius?" John raised an eyebrow, a normal reaction to muggles hearing his name.

"Yeah, Sirius." he confirmed, cursing his families inability to produce normal names.

Again, silence. Lily and James still hadn't stopped laughing in that vomit-producing on the bench across from them. Sirius was telling his best friend, as soon as they went home tonight, that he didn't want to visit Lily's with James anymore. It wasn't like he _did_ anything while he was there.

"What about you?" John asked, bringing his thoughts back to the present. "Do you have any special ladies?"

He chuckled, shaking his head, black hair fell into his eyes but he flicked it back casually. "No, sir. I'm Mr. Lonely."

John chuckled, before letting out a deep breath. "Well, lad, there's no rush, eh?"

Sirius tensed slightly, but forced a smile. It was still hard to come to term with the fact they were leaving school next year and they'd then be out there, in the big bad world, facing Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Sirius knew there might be a rush.

They all might die at any moment.

"I suppose not." He answered instead.

"Teenagers," John began, shaking his head, "they think everything is the end of the world, no offence lad. But, everything seems so large to them at that moment and they don't look into the future. They look at what is happening now, at that moment - and maybe that's not a bad thing, but you need to think about what is going to happen in the days coming. How your actions might affect everything coming your way."

Sirius was silent, absorbing these words. He thought about the upcoming war, how everything he'd done recently would be impacting on what happened to him. He knew that Bellatrix was dying to get to him for 'betraying the family'. He knew his cousin couldn't wait to meet him on the battlefield.

With a twist of his heart, Sirius wondered if he'd met Regulus there too. He'd abandoned his family - and he didn't regret it. But his family will make sure that he'd pay the price for dishonoring the pure-blood family name.

"Sirius!" he glanced up at James' voice, meeting the sight of him and Lily standing up. "You coming?"

He called back, "Yeah, I'll catch up in a minute, go ahead."

James and Lily both nodded, casting curious glances towards the elderly man sitting beside him. John waved at them cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to their confusion. Sirius let out a breath, standing up.

"I should be going then," he smiled, holding out a hand to the man. "It was nice meeting you."

John moved his cane into his left hand and shook Sirius' with his right. "You too, lad. I'll give you some advice to go along with what I just said, people should always look before they leap. Remember that."

Sirius nodded slowly, a light smile upon his face. "I will, thanks."

"Anytime lad, anytime."

He turned, walking after James and Lily's retreating figure. Halfway down the path Sirius couldn't help glancing back, noting the way John only stared in thin air, seemingly lost in memories. Sirius was sure there was a story behind that man's advice.


End file.
